Bottle-opener.



@MW emmer rnien,

ROBERT B. COCHRAN-n, or `cnn-1anorten,nearer CAROLINA, nssrenon,BYVDIRECT am) rrnsnn nsseiviannrs, Tornnrncr BOTTLE Oran-iin courrant?,or CHARLOTTE, NOBTHOAROLINA, Ascaron-Arion 'or NORTH cartonne. i u fBOTTLE-OPENER. i

Specication of Letters Paten-t. v Patented NOM :29, 19311KApplicationled 0ctober13h1u915. Serial No. 55,586. i

ToiaZZ wkomz' 'may concern: i

Be it known that I, ROBERT B. Gooi-infinis, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Charlotte, in th'ecounty of Mecklenburg and State ofNorth Carolina, have invented ne7 and useful Improvements inBottle-Openers, of Which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to bottle openers and is more concernedwith devices of this c lass for removing crimped caps from the mouths orheadsv of bottles, jars or the like. i y i rlihe purpose lof the`invention vis to imf prove the vconstruction' of" devices of ftheabove-mentioned `character by simplifying Vtheir construction and`producing such i a device that Will Operate With great eiiiciency,Without subjecting the bottle -to the liability of breaking during theoperation of the machine. i

The Vfeatures ofthe invention reside in the novel construction,arrangement and `com- Y ybination of parts which Will appear and bereadily understood as the specication proceeds; and, in the provision ofmeans `cooperative With the cap removing meansand actuated thereby for.ejecting the removed caps or stoppers from the` machine. i

In the drawings which form part of the speciiieation` Y Figure l is asidesectional elevation taken through the housingofV the' machine andillustrating` the bottle `clamping means in section for the sake ofappearance; and

i Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional vieuT taken substantially on line 2 2of Fig. '1 with the clamp retaining plate removed.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding Vpartsthroughout the ,specification and drawings. 'i

The invention, as shown in the drawings, consists of a :traine A havingabase portion 1 and a 'goose-neckextension 2 Acarrying and supporting the,plunger 3 which is adapted to actupon the .bottle cap 1C of the bottleB suitably .supported or clamped on the base 1 of the machine. Y

This device is especially .designedto remove `the caps or stoppers ofbottles which have saidcaps-crimped around theedges of the neck ,ormouth portion of the bottle in the Well knoivn mannen For supporting thebottle in position so that the cap thereof may beneted `upon .by theAplunger 3, the base l ofthe iraineis formed `With a vertical npening 4Lthereinand soarranged as to have its axis in alinement with rthe axis ofl-the plunger 3. The neck of `the Ebottle B Ais extended Athrough saidaperture fromV the under -sideof thebase 1 and is held therein, in themanner 1vshow-n in the drawings, by suitable yielding clamping means Dsurrounding said neck ,of `the bottle and providing a support ivhichisAengaged by the edges of the `criniped cap C.

i The plunger l3 extends through a vertical bore `formed ,in KVtheextension 2, the latter having its uupper,extremity bifurcated, and an,operating cam "leverl2 `pivoted lin said bifurcation above `the upperend of the rplunger The cam portion `12a of theoperat ing lever adaptedto Contact With the upper extremity of thefplunger 3 to cause the latterlto move doivriivardly to `perform the uncap'ping Operation of themachine. A helical Jspring A,13 seatedin a recess 14C, formed in saidbifurcation, is adapted tokact against the..iprojeetion3EL of theAplunger 3 for returning Vand normally holding the plunger in its raisedorinoperative position, as shown in .full linesin l. i It will thus beseen that Whentlieoperating lever 12 is moved ,to a position shownindotted lines in 1 the camsurface thereof Will depress the "plunger 3`against the action of the spring 13 into Contact with .the cap orstopper C of the bottle 13. Since the aXis of the plungeris in line With,the axis of the opening 4 in the base .of the frame, the plunger Willengage and depress .the cap at the centralportion thereof, Whichpressure will cause the crimped edges of the cap to spread outwardly`from engagement With the beaded edge 15 at the mouth of the bottle B.After the crimped edges of the cap have been suiiiciently spread, theOperator frelease the lever 12 and the spring 13 will return the plungerto its normal raised position. Since the contents of these bottles areusually aeriated substances, the bottles are forced downwardlyV out ofengagement with the yielding clamping means D by the action of theplunger upon-said cap C. As the bottle is forced out, the cap whichengages with the clamping means D surrounding Vthe bottlev mechanism isremoved from the latter and leftresting upon the base 1 of the machine.

It is contemplated by this invention to provide means for ej ecting themutilated or removed caps from the machine after 'each operation of theplunger 3. For carrying out this purpose any suitable'means'may be usedthat is, connected to the operating lever 12 togejectthe vcap afterthelatter has been removed from the head of the bottle B. In the lpresentinstance, a preferred construction is shown and comprises' an ejector16,

. formed oitivire, or othersuitable material,

and bentinto a substantially U-shaped formation and adapted to straddlethe gooseneck extension 2 Vof the frame. One of the arms 17 of theejector' is pivoted to the lower end of a lever 18 pivoted intermediateits ends'on a pivot shaft 19. The other arm of the ejector 20 is pivotedto the lower end of the connecting arm 21, here shown asA integral withthe pivot shaft 19, and disposed on the opposite side of the extension 2to that Y of the lever 18. The closed end 16a vof the vejector isadapted to rest upon and move vover the upper Asurface yofthe base 1 andto v pivotjof the lever 12, bythe connecting` link 23... Thearm21eXtends at such an angle that when the lever-,is in its ineffectiveposition,- as shown in full lines in, Fig, 1, the lever 18 isV soactuated asto move theejec- 4 tor to the limit of its ej ectingmovement, and

when the lever 12 is moved to a position shown in dotted lines, causingthe plunger 3 to-actuate to remove the cap from the bottle,the lever 18will be so actuated as to draw in the ejector to a position shown indotted lines in Fig. 1 andout of the path of v.the plunger 3. Nowthatthe cap has been removed from the bottle, in the manner abovedescribed, and the operatorA has raised the operating lever 12, whichwilljpermit the plunger B to returnto its normal position,the ejectorl16 will be moved outwardly to its position Vshown in fullv `lines andwill engage with the removed bottle cap and discharge the samefrom themachine through the opening 24e in the machine houslng. Y

The clamping'meansl) tor holding the bottle in position so thatthe cap@may be acted'upon by the plunger 3 may be of any suitable or approvedconstruction thativill eii'ectively hold the bottle-in thebase andpermit the uncapping of 'thebottle-bythe action of the plunger 3. Itis'prefe'rre'd to show ,clamping means consisting of a plu- Y rality ofarc members 5 which slidably rest VYin `an, annular mortise 6forme'dinthegbase 1 at the upper 5end k,ot thevertical opening 4;VVhen'the arc `members 5 are disposed in the mortiser, the samewill forma-sec. tional ring, eachjy section being rnovedtoward :the center by thespring?, interposed between the sectionsb` and vthe jvallot the mortise5. Each ofthe are sections have their oppositeends recessed, asshownat8,`

and when'assembled, as clearly; shown in Fig. 2, said recesses in`opposing ends of ad? jacent sectionstormfa slot adapted to accommodatethe ystop projections 9 vthreaded in said mor-tisey The `slotsformedbythe recesses 8 are suliciently longsoasto admit Y of, a 4lateralsliding movement oteachsection, forafpurposewell understood. ifi r etaining .ring 1 0 havinga chamfered .upper side is designed to 'o'verliethe mortise4 ta'nd retain thearcsectionsb in position, the ring 10 beingsecured`l to the basefbyffastening" members 11. V The concavedlsurfaceoftheV lio machine by the operationof the member` 16.y

The operating lever 12` otfthe machine is herein shown and describedas'being operated manually.v However, said lever may-be suitablyconnected ywith power mechanism, not shown, such as a motor, or thelilre,tor operating the same. i

. The machine is'` adapted to be placed upon a suitable support formed'with an opening to permit the bottle B to vbe inserted-.in Vposition.It is alsodesired to inclose the en-` tire machine within Yhousing 25which is secured tothe base 1 of the. frame A by any suitable` fasteningmeans. `The housing is formed in its upper side with an opening 26 whichpermits the operating lever 12 toeX tend and operate therethrough.` Thevfront portion of 4the side walls of the housingare preferably arcuateto conform with the Having fully described my invention,

claimp l. A machine of the character described, comprising, means forholding a bottle in position in said machine, means adapted to act uponthe closurefot1 said bottle for loosening said closure thereon, saidholding .means being arranged to remove said loosened closure from thebottle as the latter is removed from said holding means, and meanscooperative with said closure loosening means for ejecting said removedclosure from the machine.

2. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles, comprising, meanssurrounding the bottle below said cap, and adapted to support the bottlein position in the machine, means for spreading the crimped edges of thecap, and a reciprocating member for ejecting said spread cap from themachine.

3. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles, comprising, meanssurrounding the bottle below said cap, means for spreading the crimpededges of the cap, said tiret-mentioned means being adapted to removesaid spread cap from the bottle when the bottle is removed therefrom,and means actuated by said cap. spreading means 'for ejecting saidremoved cap after the latter has been spread.

A. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles, comprising,yielding clamping means between which said bottle is inserted andproviding a support for the bottle upon which the edges of the cap rest,a reciprocating plunger for centrally depressing said cap and causingthe crimped edges of the latter to be spread, and means cooperative withsaid plunger `for ejecting said removed cap from the machine.

5. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles, comprising.yielding clamping means between which said bottlev is inserted andproviding a support for the bottle upon which the edges ot' the caprest, a reciprocating plunger for centrally depressing said cap andcausing the crimped edges of the latter to be spread, said yieldingclamping means engaging with the spread cap as the bottle is removedtherefrom and retaining the capin the machine, and means coperative withsaid plunger for ejecting said removed cap from the machine.

6. A machine for' removing crimped caps Y from bottles, comprising, ayielding clamp adapted to surround the neck of the bottle belowthecrimped cap thereon, a plunger for centrally depressing thepcap andcausing the crimped `edges thereof to be spread, said clamp yieldingunder the action of theplunger upon the cap so that the bottle is movedout of clamped position, and an actuating member for ejecting said cap'from the machine when kthe bottle is `moved out ot `clamped position.

7. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles, comprising, ayielding clamp adapted to surround the neck of the bottle below thecrimped cap thereon, a plunger for centrally dem'essing the cap andcausing the crimped edges thereof to be spread, said clamp yieldingunder the action of the plunger upon the cap so that the bottle is movedout of clamped position, an actuating member for ejecting said cap tromthe machine when the bottle is moved out of clamped pow sition, anoperating lever for the plunger, and a. connection between said leverand ejecting member for actuating the latter cooperatively with saidplunger.

8. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles, coml'nising, ayielding clamp adapted to surround the neck of the bottle below thecrimped cap thereon, a plunger for centrally depressing the cap andcausing the crimped edges thereof to be spread, and an actuating memberfor ejecting said spread cap from the machine.

9. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles comprising meanssurrounding the bottle below said cap and adapted to support the bottlein position in the machine, means for spreading the crimped edges oi'the cap, and means for ej ecting said removed cap from the machine afterthe cap has been spread.

l0. A machine for removing crimped caps from bottles comprising meanssurrounding the bottle below said cap and adapted to support the bottlein position in the machine, means for spreading the crimped edges of thecap` means for ejecting said removed cap from the machine after the caphas been spread` and a connection between said cap spreading means andej ecting means whereby the latter is actuated from the former.

11. A machine for removing caps from bottles comprising meanssurrounding the bottle below said cap and adapted to support the bottlein position in the machine, means for spreading the crimped edges of thecap, a reciprocatorv member tor eiecting said spread cap troni themachine, and means for actuating said cap ejecting member from themovement of said cap spreading means.

l2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a tubularexpansible spreading element constituting means for receiving a bottleneck. of a vieldingly supported plunger, a cam for shifting the plungeragainst a cap on a bottle neck to spread.

. the cap upon said tubular spreading means, my hand in pres Y ence oftwo subscribing wita lever, and aV connection between the cam nesses.

and lever for actuating said lever during the Y Q j upward movement ofthe plunger to dsen- ROBERT B' COCHRANE gage the spread cap from thespreading ele- Witnesses:

ment and the bottle neck. CI-IvAs. A. ROWE,

' In testimony whereof I have hereunto set CHAS. S. HYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by alidessingthe COmmissioner of Patents,-

Washington, D. C.

